Executive Director Kathie Westpheling spoke on behalf of ACU at a Washington, DC event May 31st marking the release of the Coordinated Federal Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Asthma Disparities. Westpheling said “ACU is committed to working to reduce asthma health disparities in children. Our efforts include developing a clinical decision support tool for an electronic medical record that will include an environmental trigger assessment as part of a patient centered asthma care plan.” She thanked the EPA and the Alliance of Chicago, a project partner, for their suport.

The report was jointly released by the Secretaries of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Each emphasized the need for coordinated action to address the fact that minority children, and those from families with incomes below the poverty level, have a higher prevalence of asthma, less access to recommended care, and increased visits to emergency rooms for asthma-related care.

The action plan calls on action by the public and private sectors to:

Reduce barriers to asthma care to ensure that the populations most severely impacted by asthma receive evidence-based comprehensive care, which includes access to medical services, education and environmental interventions.